Gamification stuff we love: Virgin Red treasure hunt
Virgin recently held a treasure hunt to launch their Virgin Red loyalty app. Now what was really great about the campaign is that it firstly is totally congruent with the spirit most of us associate with Virgin, namely adventurous and fun. At the same time unlocking the treasures was not super easy, it took me several times watching the youtube clip to get started. I kept missing a few digits in the code you needed to collect.
The campaign where ‘V marks the spot’ combines fun messaging by Richard Branson, who else if you have an epic adventurer like him in the company to launch the clues. He will show up across their 17 brands on websites and in person in the UK. Each time there is a code to unlock a certain amount of points. You don’t know until you receive the points how much you will receive. The points can be used to unlock vaults with prize draws and offers. The big prize however is that winners will be flown out to Necker Island to go on a real life treasure hunt with Richard Branson obviously with a chance to win further prizes.
The Virgin red loyalty app is designed to bring customers who buy from one of the Virgin brands to buy from other Virgin Brands. Up until now this only happened for 10% of the 20 million UK customers. What they know is that the churn rate of these 10% is a lot lower than buyer who only have one customer relationship with one Virgin brand.
The introduction via treasure hunt is also how the loyalty program is meant to continue with quizzes, competitions, VIP experiences and potential discounts. The aim is to keep customers coming back more often and engage with several Virgin brands. The messaging you see will be tailored to the Virgin brands you use and give offers and discount to Virgin services and partner services.
In the words of Richard Branson “Virgin Red is designed to bring together the whole Virgin family and rewards people for living a life more Virgin”.
Although I would love to be one of the few heading over the Necker Island, my points hunt so far has been rather limited. In any case we love this gamified loyalty program.
